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Monday, October 3, 2011

A Beautiful Mess - Chocolate-filled Brioche Rolls, YBR and Awards

On, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human life is a beautiful mess.

~ Gabrielle Zevin, Elsewhere

I was supposed to do a pasta post today, but I've done a bread one instead. It's the first day of the week and truthfully speaking, I think I'm experiencing the Monday blues. Just home alone by myself. Yep, the boredom can get pretty stressful.

So a bit of kneading therapy was required today. I tossed away the pasta idea and replaced it with this slice-pinch-squeeze brioche one. Oh, and I made a video for it, my very first one. Okay, a pretty crappy one too since I'm the most technologically-challenged person living in this house. But it was a giggle to do, and relieved the boredom of the day somewhat.

Using a standard buttery bread recipe, I basically adapted the steps for making cinnamon rolls but instead of slicing them into 1-inch thick rolls, I divided the cylindrically-rolled dough into 4 parts and sliced each of them thinly. The ends were given a good pinch and then squeezed/folded together backwards into a ball, fanning out the thin slices. Oh...just refer to the video I painstakingly made below, won't you?

You have the option of leaving the bread rolls plain, but I chose to grate some dark chocolate as a filling for mine. And topped them up with poppy seeds to finish off. So simple, yet so unusually lovely to look at. I must make these again for when guests come around, and maybe try different fillings.

Here, enjoy the laughable first video :-).

This post will be sent right through to that bread-heaven on earth, Yeastspotting!

Here are a couple of quickies:

YBR

My friend Nancy of Spicie Foodie blog has posted a fantastic round-up of nearly 40 blogger's best recipes for September. The collection of dishes is fit for a King's feast, and if you haven't already checked it out, you can do so here. Thanks once again for hosting this, Nancy!

Awards:

I don't receive awards too often, so when I get them, it's really exciting! And just when I thought the blogosphere had forgotten all about me, I received these from two very lovely blogger friends:

These two ladies have the most enticing blogs, filled with the most magnificent recipes and photographs. If you haven't checked them out yet, you really don't know what you're missing out on.

So, I'm supposed to be passing these awards on to fellow bloggers. I want to honor newer blogs that I've discovered so if you don't mind, I'm going to have a bit of a think on this one and will do the forwarding in another post.

1. In a large bowl mix the flour, the sugar and the butter. Mix for 5 minutes by hand or with a mixer.

2. Add the eggs and mix for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile, turn on the oven to 50C/122F and turn it off as soon as it has reached the temperature.

3. Let the yeast dissolve in the warm milk in a small bowl. Add the rosewater to the milk/yeast mixture and then incorporate the mixture, little by little, to the flour/sugar bowl and mix for other 5 minutes. The dough should be now smooth and even. If not, place on a board and mix by hand, eventually adding a little flour. Shape it into a ball.

4. Place the ball back into the big bowl (oil it) and place it uncovered in the oven. Let rest for at least an hour up to a couple of hours. Take the ball out of the oven and divide into 2 equal parts.

5. Roll each portion flat into a rectangular shape, grate some chocolate filling on top and finally roll into a cylinder. Divide each cylinder into 4 parts. Take each part and slice thinly about 1/2cm wide. Pinch the ends together and fold backwards to form a ball shape (refer to video above).

6. Place on parchment paper and leave to rise for another 30 minutes, cover with a clean, damp cloth. Preheat the oven to 180C/375F.

7. Brush milk on top and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until tops are golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush rolls all over with melted butter. Best eaten on the day they are made.

48 comments:

Oh man I have to get on the video train, that was awesome. It took me a couple of minutes to realise it was sped up and you dont work that frantic in the kitchen...do you? How did you go about doing it,just set the camera up above the bake spot?Great show, and free :)

LOL, yes, parts of the video were speeded up! Sometimes though, I AM that frantic in the kitchen... especially when I have a deadline or the sun is going down very fast (ie. no more natural light) :-). I simply set the camera up on a tripod, and filmed away. The editing was hell, didn't really know what I was doing!

The Chocolate Filled Brioche Rolls are amazing and you are definitely a natural behind the camera. I feel so intimidated when making breads and your video was VERY helpful for people like me that loves step by step instructions.Don't worry about the quality of it, as long as we can see what you do and learn from it, I think it you will do great. I am spoiled now. I will look for more videos from the Diva!

I love the video, perfect song choice lol..... I wouldn't even know how to get music on one. The rolls look fantastic. I get the stay at home mommy blues out of boredom but I do have the 15 month old home with me he's just really not much for conversation. :)

nice vlog(videoblog) pleased to see more and more of thsoe.Will I make one.Hm..not sureMy daughter is star in our household..I will keep quite between pots and pans.The great brioche on its own but filled with chocolate double pleasure;)

Oh wowwww..I loveeeee Brioche rolls..My aunt who is Germany use to made these all the time, but I never got the courage to do it myself..great video though..lovely photos too!Honey, you deserve all the awards..you rock in any possible way!!

Ana Helena, more videos? Oh noooo....I've got to improve my cinematography skills first! Well, it was kind of fun to do and it feels dangerously addictive, so you just might see a few more videos in the future!

Rrrr, I lost my long old comment, lol. Love, love, love it, next time I want to see your beautiful face. I'll bring my camera when I get your way and we can do a duet, lol. Hope the rest of the week, goes great.-Gina-

Oh Maya, I enjoyed this video so much! As a non-baker, I can't even make the dough so nicely square (or even round) and it was so fun you roll it to a perfect shape. And the cutting the dough and pinching the end (how do you call that) was really cool and this video tutorial is very helpful. I won't be able to set up a video, so trust me you did a wonderful job!! Congrats on the awards too. There's no post that I don't get impressed by you. ;-) I wish I can have this brioche!

Hi Maya-Stopped over from Michaels blog...it's been a long time since we commented on each others' blog.

I'm so glad I stopped by to watch your amazing video of your gorgeous brioche! Love the brioche so much, it is amazing how you made them so perfect, flaky, and delicious:DThis will be my next project...don't do much yeast baking; very encouraging how you made it look so easy!

First of all Maya, the video is great. As a person who is bakingly challenged ( I don't think that is a word:) ) I need the visual to really understand the process. So thank you and please do more. Boredom is probably the hardest thing about being at home. But look what came out of your boredom pure bliss. I want to make your rolls and have them for breakfast. A perfect way to start my day. They are on my list now:)

Thank you everyone, for stopping by and leaving a few words! I've been so rushed off my feet this week that I've had very little time to respond to everyone. But I'll make it a point to do some serious blog surfing this weekend and pay you all a visit! Promise! ;-)

How did I miss this post from long ago hm... somebody was visiting my blog from this post so I check to see and to my surprise you added award that I gave you..how sweet, and thank you for your kind words!!!! I am in love with your Beautiful Mess..and would eat those brioche any time any place lol! Just pinned it, coz last year I didn't have pintarest :) anyhow miss 'ya at the IG, and rest well and COME back soon, by the way I changed my ID...u will see it!